Reviews

Mama, I'm Swollen

Tim Kasher makes Omaha, Nebraska seem like it's the biggest place to lose your mind in, or the most relaxing place to sit and create. Either way, the man has written some pretty tall tales in the form of four boisterous albums in the past decade, all holding their own worth musically and lyrically, crammed into part of the fifteen years of the band's creation.

Sure, there are those still yearning for The Ugly Organ Part Two, but it's not going to happen, and if those naysayers saw Kasher yelling "Lord, let us go!" at the end of "Retreat!" or the stunning closer of "What Have I Done?" then maybe certain moods and animosity would be indifferent and incline to change face.

Cursive's set tonight was a spanning hymnal of what the band has put together over the past ten years. From the opening "The Martyr" to the encore filled with tracks from Domestica to Mama, I'm Swollen, ending the night with "Big Bang" - larger than life, larger than the stage - the band still have it intact.

I didn't see one patron of the crowd not immersed in what was going on in front of them - many singing along to every word, hanging on to every ounce of sweat.

To the naysayers that have rejected Cursive's progression from what they still once loved, I say this: Go see the band live. Return to the albums you've scoffed over. Realize that good art shouldn't be stagnant. Good art will move itself forward, and the artist will show their true colors in public through their ever evolving projects.

Cursive showed this tonight. I only hope, and have come to hear, that it's like that every night.